Approximately half of the world's 450 (roughly) nuclear power plants are nearing the end of their anticipated lifespan.

The engineers who built the plants did not plan for decommissioning.

The decommissioning costs for a single nuclear plant can cost $1.5 billion and the anticipated clean-up of 90 plants in Europe is expected to cost over $100 billion.

The metal and other building materials of nuclear reactors can be very radioactive, requiring very specialized technology to avoid contaminating workers and the site.

The engineering challenges facing efforts to decommission nuclear reactors are illustrated in the article using the example of a German plant where the reactor was built first, with the encasing reactor building constructed afterwards, around the reactor.

The problem with this design is there is no way to remove a highly radioactive reactor lid through the building's doorways.

The article demonstrates conclusively that nuclear is THE MOST EXPENSIVE ENERGY FORM pursued by humanity. This sentiment is not mine alone but has been expressed by General Electric's former CEO as well:

Financial Times Monday July 20, 2012, p. A1 by Piita Clark

"Nuclear power is so expensive compared
with other forms of energy that it has become 'really hard' to justify,
according to the chief executive of General Electric, one of the world's
largest suppliers of atomic equipment.

'It's really a gas and wind world today,' said Jeff Immelt....

'When I talk tot he guys who run the oil companies they say look,
they're finding more gas all the time. It's just hard to justify
nuclear, really hard. Gas is so cheap and at some point, really
economics rule,' Mr. Immelt told the Financial Times in an interview in
London....

About Me

I am a Professor at a large public university. I study political economy and biopolitics (the politics of life). My interests are diverse but are broadly concerned with economic, social and environmental justice. I have published 5 books: Crisis Communication, Liberal Democracy and Ecological Sustainability: The Threat of Financial and Energy Complexes in the Twenty-First Century (2016); Fukusima and the Privatization of Risk (2013); Constructing Autism (2005); Governmentality, Biopower and Everyday Life (2008/2011); Governing Childhood (2010).
I also participated in an edited collection on Fukushima: Fukushima: Dispossession or Denuclearization (2014).